In The Theology of Robert Barron, Matthew Levering explores the key themes and sources of Bishop Robert Barron’s theological vision, tracing the development of his thought from his years as a student in the 1970s and 80s to the present. Levering surveys Barron’s theology by studying his critical engagements with a cast of thinkers from his formative period, including Andrew Greeley, Michel Corbin, Raymond Brown, Edward Schillebeeckx, John P. Meier, George Lindbeck, Alasdair MacIntyre, Stanley Hauerwas, and Richard Rohr. Levering shows how Barron appropriated, elaborated, and critiqued the thought of these interlocutors to develop a powerful and nuanced theology of his own.\nAt the center of Barron’s theological vision is the non-competitive Creator God, who radically transcends the order of finite beings while sustaining all things by his power and presence. Because God does not “compete” ontologically with his creatures, he is able to come so near as to become one of us without ceasing to be himself. We encounter Christ as the central character of the drama that unfolds in Sacred Scripture. Barron emphasizes that Christianity is an embodied, communal way of being. To become a Christian is to enter into a distinctive cultural milieu, venerate its saints, adopt its sensibility, and embrace its practices.\nLevering shows how Barron integrates these speculative, moral, and spiritual dimensions into a theological picture that, although deeply and distinctly Catholic, is also oriented to the world outside the Church and to evangelism.

The Theology of Robert Barron

Religion & Spirituality

Matthew Levering

Christian Books & Bibles

Word on Fire Academic

Newman on Doctrinal Corruption examines John Henry Newman’s understanding of history and doctrine in his own context, first as an Oxford student and professor reading Edward Gibbon and influenced by his close friend Hurrell Froude, then as a new Catholic convert in dialogue with his brother Francis, and finally as an eminent Catholic during the controversies over the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception (in dialogue with Edward Pusey) and papal infallibility (in dialogue with Ignaz von Döllinger). 
Author Matthew Levering argues that Newman’s career is shaped in large part by concerns about doctrinal corruption. Newman’s understanding of doctrinal development can only be understood when we come to share his concerns about the danger of doctrinal corruption―concerns that explain why Newman vigorously opposed religious liberalism. Particularly significant is Newman’s debate with the great German Church historian Döllinger since, in this final debate, Newman brings to bear all that he has learned about the nature of history, the formation of Church doctrine, the problem with private judgment, and the role of historical research.

Newman on Doctrinal Corruption

Levering, Matthew

No Lasting City: Essays on Theology, Politics, and Culture

Arts & Photography

Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt

Religious

Christ Brings All Newness: Essays, Reviews, and Reflections

Robert P. Imbelli

Thinking Through Aquinas: Essays on God, Humanity, and Christ

Politics & Social Sciences

Fritz Bauerschmidt

Philosophy

Thomas Aquinas: Selected Commentaries on the Old Testament

Thomas, Aquinas

After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher

Thomas, Ward

Beauty and Imitation

Daniel McInerny

History & Criticism

Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” and declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” Yet he insisted his writings were not allegories, and Middle-earth is loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs. 
How were his faith and his fiction related? Holly Ordway answers that question biographically, focusing on Tolkien’s spiritual development, a dramatic story that previous accounts of his life have left largely unexplored. 
Here we find Tolkien’s faith was hard-won. His Anglican upbringing was overturned when his mother converted to Catholicism. Soon afterwards, she died, leaving Tolkien under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, who forbade him for three years to see his Protestant sweetheart, he eventually married her nonetheless. The Great War, in which most of his close friends were killed, deepened Tolkien’s reliance on his faith, but then, for nearly a decade, he “almost ceased to practise” his religion. Friendship with C.S. Lewis and success with The Hobbit were followed by another war and by turmoil in the Church that sternly tested Tolkien’s commitments. 
The challenges and triumphs in his religious life are reflected in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, that epic tale of endurance against the odds. As Ordway shows in her expertly researched and richly illustrated study, Tolkien’s faith and Tolkien’s fiction are intimately related, though in subtle and complex ways. This long-overdue spiritual biography gives new insight into his works by shedding fresh light on their author’s deepest-held convictions.

Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Holly Ordway

Arts & Literature

Product Description \nIt is a widely accepted point of view that J.R.R Tolkien was dismissive of the modern fiction of his time, and that &lsquo;The Hobbit&rsquo; and &lsquo;The Lord of the Rings&rsquo; were fundamentally medieval and nostalgic in their inspiration. &ldquo;Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages&rdquo; takes this claim, coming from one of his first biographers, and reexamines it through new meticulous archival research. This groundbreaking Catholic script by Holly Ordway reveals how Tolkien, in fact, had a fantastic imagination and understanding of both the facts and the fiction of the modern world. In contrast to the widely accepted image of Tolkien, this influential book portrays him enjoying a broad range of contemporary works, engaging with them in detail and depth&mdash; And Even naming specific titles as sources for, and influences upon his creation of Middle-earth. This Christian book shows Tolkien admired authors such as James Joyce and Beatrix Potter, Rider Haggard and Edith Nesbit, William Morris, and Kenneth Grahame. Ordway further mentions how the forgotten works of S.R. Crockett and J.H. Shorthouse also made a significant impression on Tolkien's work. In an effort to show Tolkien&rsquo;s genius in a new light, Ordway's painstaking scholarship portrays how Tolkien's book was connected with the literature of his own time and at the same time concerned with the issues of the contemporary culture. Ordway's ground-breaking study illuminates his views on topics such as technology, women, empire, and race. For Tolkien's genius was not simply backward-looking: it was intimately connected with the literature of his own time and concerned with the issues and crises of modernity. <ul> <li>Comprehensive Christian Books: Devoid of jargon, this approachable, comprehensive literature by Holly Ordway can enrich anyone's understanding of Tolkien's writings and bring new depth to his classic tales.</li> <li>Renowned Inspirational Books: Based on meticulous archival research, Ordway shows how Tolkien has appreciated both popular, and forgotten contemporary authors of his time and how said authors made a significant impression on Tolkien's literature.</li> <li>About the Author: Holly Ordway holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is a Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute and a Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University.</li> <li>Proclaiming Christ: Word on Fire Catholic Ministries supports the work of Bishop Robert Barron, which aims to highlight Roman Catholic history, spread the message of Jesus Christ, and to manifest the spirit of Christ to the masses.</li> </ul>\nReview 
This is a work of the first importance. Holly Ordway's painstaking scholarship, her close reading of primary sources in their proper context, challenges, and thoroughly revises, the image of Tolkien as someone who took no interest in contemporary culture. Ordway also offers a fine critical understanding of why and how Tolkien drew on those sources, an understanding that will enrich anyone's experience in re-reading the legendarium. Her book is itself highly readable, devoid of jargon and presented with real elegance and wit, a delight for the general reader, but also a groundwork for future Tolkien studies. --Malcolm Guite, Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge, and author of 
Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination\nA distinguished work of detailed literary scholarship that is enjoyable and accessible for all readers. Ordway has undertaken a careful, sometimes combative, psycho-bibliography that shatters any sense that Tolkien was simply a clueless and nostalgic curmudgeon. Rather, she gives us a portrait of a nuanced thinker and reader who was generous and aware, Catholic and conscientious, creatively engaged with, but not bound by, his own culture. --Michael Tomko, Professor o

Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages

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